"It's a repository for resources and services for children in the court system."

Jimmy Sandlin is the director of Alabama Child Defend, a program based at Athens State University that aims to stop and prevent child abuse. (Anthony Cook/acook@al.com)

As the former presiding judge over the family court in Lauderdale
County from 2005-2011, Jimmy Sandlin was the only person assigned to hear child
abuse cases.

What he heard shocked him.

"I lived in the Shoals area all my life. I thought we had a
Mayberry-esque society," he said. "I learned that child abuse is a national epidemic. No one's immune."

Sandlin said he noticed a recurring theme over those six years.

"In almost every case, there was someone who knew something and could
have done something, and they didn't," he said. "A family member, a teacher, a
social worker ... They're either afraid, don't know what to do, or don't think it
will make a difference.

"As a result, children were subjected to longer, more severe abuse
because it escalates when it goes unchecked."

After completing his judicial term, Sandlin said he couldn't go back to
ignoring the problem. Now, in partnership with Athens State University, he
serves as director of Alabama Child Defend, a months-old program aimed at
protecting children from abuse and neglect.

"We're not focused on trying to reform predators," Sandlin said. "We
want to educate professionals who have regular contact with children to make
them aware of the signs of child abuse and their responsibility with reporting
child abuse. People in contact with children are in a position to do
something."

Unlikely suspects

Grandfathers. School teachers. Counselors. Pastors.

Sandlin said perpetrators of child abuse are often those who are the
most trusted and least suspected. He pointed to the case involving former Penn
State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, who in October was found guilty
of sexually abusing 10 children.

"A person no one would have expected, working at an organization beyond
reproach, in a system of supposed checks and balances," Sandlin said. "And yet,
how many people turned their heads? If Joe Paterno can turn his head to child
abuse, we've got a long way to go as a society."

Sandlin said it's common for perpetrators to have no remorse or to be
in denial about what they've done. He remembers presiding over a child sex
abuse case that involved a grandfather who thought his actions were part of his
duty to teach his granddaughter about adulthood.

"Those kinds of responses are typical," he said.

The sad truth is that the victims are our most vulnerable citizens,
Sandlin said, adding that, because it crosses all socio-economic lines, child
abuse is a societal problem that's going to take systemic change.

"We're going to be remembered as a generation that allowed children be
abused under our very noses," he said. "Unless it changes, that's going to be
our legacy."

The program

One of Child Defend's primary tools is its online Legal Resource Center
for judges and lawyers who work with child abuse cases, providing them with
access to all legal research.

"I had zero training for dealing with these kinds of cases, and there
were few resources to improve my skills for handling these cases," Sandlin
said. "Also, young lawyers representing children don't have resources. Access
to this kind of research is like having a staff to help them."

The website becomes a document vault for judges and attorneys. Judges
and lawyers have access to all Alabama
statutes and cases. "If they have contact with children, we want them to have
the best information possible," Sandlin said.

Another component of the website is an online course that trains
teachers how to recognize the signs of child abuse and how to respond. This is
where Athens State partners on the Child Defend program.

"Athens State is a perfect fit because they already have an online
program to train teachers," Sandlin said. "If I'm a superintendent and I have
two teachers equally qualified and one has this certification, I'm going to
hire the one with this certification."

The training includes four classes
for a total of 12 credit hours, all online. The goal is to have key people in
place to not only recognize child abuse, but prevent it.

"One of the biggest challenges with obtaining funding for child abuse
prevention is showing numbers of how many cases you prevent," Sandlin said.

What's needed

The local Child Defend is modeled after a similar program in Texas and
was started with the help of foundation money that Texas received to replicate
the system.

Kelley Parris-Barnes is director of the Alabama Department of Child
Abuse and Neglect Prevention, which also provided a grant to help start the
program. Parris-Barnes worked seven years to get the program started in
Alabama.

"I knew from the first time I saw the program in Texas, it could
revolutionize the way we represent our children in the court system," she said.
"It's a repository for resources and services for children in the court
system."

The Child Defend system needs to be expanded to include mentors, pro
bono attorneys who might volunteer to take a case, psychologists, psychiatrists
and counselors as they come on line. Parris-Barnes encourages those
professionals who deal with children and families to go to the website and sign
up to serve in the program.

"If I'm in need of a child psychologist," Parris-Barnes said, "I should
be able to go on this system and find one."

The website is not open to the public. Professionals would register
through Sandlin, and submit to background checks to verify that they are indeed
members of the profession.

Sandlin said there's no ongoing funding to support the program, which
will require an annual budget of around $75,000 to support a paid staff. He
said he'd like to see the program expanded across the region and eventually
nationwide.

"We hope people will see the wisdom in doing this and will step
forward," he said. "We need a benefactor to step up and say this is important,
someone who wants to be a part of the systemic change that's needed."

Jimmy Sandlin

Hometown: Florence

Education: 1984 graduate of Samford University

Attorney: 20 years in private practice, focusing on family law

Judge: 6 years as presiding family court judge in Lauderdale
County

How you can help

Contributions can be made to Athens State University and designated for
Alabama Child Defend.

Send to the care of Mike McCoy, vice president for financial affairs, 300 North
Beaty St., Athens, AL 35611.

Or call 256-216-3303.

For more information, or to sign up as a professional to serve in the program,
contact Sandlin at 256-319-2798 or email him at judge@jimmysandlin.com.